13/06/2026
Elon Musk has become the world's first trillionaire.
Let that number sit for a moment.
$1,000,000,000,000.
A trillion dollars. More wealth than the GDP of most countries on earth. He now solely makes up around 3% of the entire US GDP 😱
SpaceX is currently valued at around $350 billion — making it one of the most valuable private companies in history.
That valuation is a paper number. It reflects what investors paid for a slice. The assets are real. The contracts are real (NASA, the DoD). The revenue is real.
But a private company valuation is also a story about the future. Partly real, partly projection, and dependent on ex*****on.
Musk doesn't hold a trillion dollars in cash. The vast majority of his wealth is in equity — shares in Tesla, SpaceX, and X.
When Tesla's stock drops 10%, tens of billions disappear from his net worth overnight. This is wealth that exists on a spreadsheet.
We're not here to complain about success or innovation. SpaceX has genuinely done things that seemed impossible.
But at what point does the accumulation of wealth by one individual become a question of systemic design rather than individual merit?
The same year Musk's net worth crossed $300 billion, 700 million people lived on less than $2.15 a day.
In the UK, 1 in 5 children live in poverty. In Northern Ireland, that figure is closer to 1 in 4.
These aren't abstract statistics. They represent real constraints — on education, health, opportunity, and dignity.
Wealth at this scale distorts markets, buys political influence, and concentrates decision-making power.
We live in a world where the question of how much is enough is an important one. Wealth tax is a better, workable format than before must be a priority.
Does the political will exist to promote a new wealth tax? Doubtful.
There is the argument that the super rich will leave if taxed too heavily. Some assets here will stay though. Also, at certain levels of wealth, surely refusing to pay in more smells of greed?
A trillionaire is a remarkable thing to witness.
Growing inequality and division is also something we're also witnessing.
Those two things go hand in hand ✋️
